'I'm working with whoever is in power': Ice Cube defends helping Trump on plan for black Americans as he's invited back on CNN after his first interview was cancelled

 Ice Cube has defended his decision to work with Donald Trump on a plan for black Americans as he finally went on CNN after blasting the network and host Chris Cuomo for canceling his interview the day before.

The rapper insisted he is 'working with whoever is in power' and that he is 'not on nobody's team' during an interview with Cuomo Friday night.

Ice Cube has been forced to defend himself after the Trump administration said this week it was working with him on creating policies to better serve African American communities.

He was slammed following the announcement as fans questioned how he could go 'from NWA to MAGA' and claimed he was being used by Donald Trump and his administration to try to claw in black votes just before the election.  

The hotly-anticipated discussion with Cuomo came one day after Ice Cube claimed CNN had axed his appearance on Cuomo Prime Time Thursday night saying they 'can't handle the truth'. 

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Ice Cube has defended his decision to work with Donald Trump on a plan for black Americans as he finally went on CNN after blasting the network and host Chris Cuomo for canceling his interview the day before

Ice Cube told Cuomo Friday he 'was not on team blue' and also 'not on team red' but would work with whoever is 'in power' on his Contract With Black America. 

'Whoever wins - you will hear from me,' he said of the election.  

CWBA is a program formed by the rapper in August with the intention of 'striking at the heart of racism and [presenting] a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice.' 

Ice Cube insisted his plan is not the same as the Trump administration's Platinum Plan, which Trump has held up as a program to support African American communities. 

He said he didn't reach out to the Trump administration but that both the Trump and Biden campaign reached out to him about CWBA.

He explained that, while both sides expressed interest in working with him, Biden's team asked to work with him after the election while Trump's asked to speak with him then.  

'The Platinum Plan is not my plan,' he said. 'I came up with the Contract With Black America.

'I didn't run to work with any campaign. Both camps contacted me and both campaigns wanted to work with me on the Contract With Black America.

'One campaign said we love what you have but let's really dig into it after the election. The other said we love what you have do you mind talking with us about it.'  

He added: 'I'm willing to work with both teams but I'm working with whoever is willing to work with me.' 

He insisted that tackling the issue of racial inequality was not a partisan matter to him and that he was going to 'go to whoever is in power and speak to them about our problems specifically'.

'I'm not talking about minorities or people of color or diversity or none of that stuff,' he continued. 

'I'm going there for black Americans - the ones who are descendants of slaves and that's what I'm going to talk to anyone who is in power about so if anybody's got a problem with that it seems like a personal problem to me.'  

Cuomo launched into the interview with a run down of differences between Ice Cube's music career and Donald Trump's stance on racial equality. 

The anchor described how Ice Cube started out 'rapping in defiance of police presence' and cut to a clip of his 2018 song 'Arrest the President' where the rapper hit out at Trump saying he was 'Russian intelligence' and 'so full of s***'. 

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The rapper insisted he is 'working with whoever is in power' and that he is 'not on nobody's team' during an interview with Cuomo Friday night

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Cuomo launched into the interview with a run down of differences between Ice Cube's music career and Donald Trump's stance on racial equality

He then played a clip of GOP Senator David Perdue mispronouncing Kamala Harris's name during tonight's campaign rally as an example of how the administration 'treats the first black vice presidential candidate'. 

He also shot to a clip of Trump speaking where he branded Black Lives Matter 'a racist term' and dismissed the organization as being ran by Marxists.  

Ice Cube branded the introduction 'misleading' and hit out at Cuomo for saying 'I ran over to the Trump team instead of the Biden team - that's not true'.  

'I'm not playing no more of these games. These political games,' he said. 'We're not part of a team.

'We have very raw problems especially with the wealth gap in this country when it comes to black Americans.'  

When Cuomo pushed back saying people of color will ask why he is 'picking Trump', Ice Cube said 'I'm not picking nobody - he's the president.'

Cuomo pressed the rapper on whether he believes Trump truly cares about racial inequality.

'I don't know what he wants to do,' said Ice Cube. 

'I just know what the man said... I've never met Donald Trump so I don't know what he's going to do I just know what he said he's going to do.'

Ice Cube added that both Biden and Trump had a plan but 'who knows what's going to happen after November 3.' 

'Do you really think Donald Trump can be trusted as much as you can trust Joe Biden?' asked Cuomo.   

'I'm not trusting any of them. I'm just going by action. I'm not going by words. I'm not going by rhetoric or media spin,' he insisted.

'I'm not on nobody's team. I'm not on team blue and I'm not on team red. I'm an independent person and that's what I believe black people need to do to become independent and we need to get something for our vote.'  

The interview came 24 hours after Ice Cube criticized CNN and Cuomo saying he had been due to appear on Cuomo Prime Time that night but the interview was called off.

'So the POWERS that be cancelled my interview on @CuomoPrimeTime tonight,' he tweeted. 'I've actually been ban from @CNN for a few months so I was surprised they even asked. But it seems like they can't handle the truth.'

Ice Cube said they 'can't handle the truth' and claimed he'd previously been banned from CNN

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The rapper recently defended his decision to work with President Trump on creating policies to better serve African Americans after fans claimed he was being used

It's unclear if and why Ice Cube was banned from the network. 

However in July he was accused of anti-Semitism. Among his critics for posting memes seemingly targeting Jewish people were CNN's Jake Tapper.

Prior to that Tapper was told to 'watch your mouth' by rapper Ice Cube after he called Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, 'a vile anti-LGBTQ anti-Semitic misogynist.' Ice Cube converted to Islam in 1992. 

The controversy over Ice Cube's apparent collaboration with the Trump administration was first stirred after Trump's campaign adviser Katrina Pierson gave him a 'shoutout for his willingness to step up and work with [the Trump] administration' on Twitter.

'Leaders gonna lead, haters gonna hate – thank you for leading' Pierson added, along with a black first-bump emoji.

Although news of the unexpected collaboration was not a direct endorsement for Trump, Ice Cube, 51, faced a backlash from shocked fans who questioned, 'how do you go from NWA to MAGA?' 

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The controversy was first stirred after Trump's campaign adviser Katrina Pierson gave him a 'shoutout for his willingness to step up and work with [the Trump] administration' on Twitter

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Fans resurfaced one his tweets from 2016, in which he insisted, 'I will never endorse a motha****a like Donald Trump! EVER!!!'

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Ice Cube tweeted that his efforts were bipartisan, as he'd reached out to both sides about his proposed Contract With Black America. Ice Cube formed the program in August with the intention of 'striking at the heart of racism and [presenting] a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice'

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According to Ice Cube's rep, Trump's campaign responded more enthusiastically to the initiative than Biden's people who said they'd address his plan after the election. The Biden campaign released their plan aimed at black voters in May

Fans resurfaced one his tweets from 2016, in which he insisted, 'I will never endorse a motha****a like Donald Trump! EVER!!!.' 

The 'F**k the Police' hitmaker has also criticized Trump's 'law and order' stance, seen as a dog whistle back to previous administrations that have used police forces and the criminal justice system to mass incarcerate in black communities.

It prompted a 2018 song which included the lyrics: 'You got the evidence,' adding that Trump 'is Russian intelligence. … Did you know the new white was orange?'

The Barbershop star sought to assure critics that his decision to work with the Trump campaign comes as part of a bigger purpose.

The President's Platinum Plan is a four-year program that pledges to help create three million new jobs for African Americans.

Ice Cube responded to the criticism tweeting that his efforts were bipartisan. 

'Facts: I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me,' Ice Cube tweeted. 

'Dems said we'll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA.'

According to Ice Cube's rep, Trump's campaign responded more enthusiastically to the initiative than Biden's. The Biden campaign released their plan aimed at black voters in May.

Fellow actor Don Cheadle asked: 'what 'adjustments' specifically? and what's your endgame?' 

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The 'F**k the Police hitmaker has criticized President Trump's 'law and order' stance

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Ice Cube tweeted about politicians: 'They all lie and they all cheat but we can't afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan'

On Wednesday night, Ice Cube also responded to Danny Morrison's tweet voicing disappointment he was working for the 'Darkside'. 

'Every side is the Darkside for us here in America,' Ice Cube replied. 'They're all the same until something changes for us. 

'They all lie and they all cheat but we can't afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan.'

Earlier this week he took to the site with a clip titled 'DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER' in which he said he'd met with reps for both parties to detail his plan, and was focused on being involved regardless of whether Trump or Biden won the upcoming presidential election.

'We gotta just push whoever's in there, because ain't nobody really solved our problems,' he said. 'People say we can't take another four years of this - black people, s***, we can take anything.'

Ice Cube has not yet publicly endorsed either Trump or Joe Biden, however he has used his Twitter account to offer his political opinions including a critique of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his plans for the black community.

'I believe Joe Biden still needs to show us his MAJOR plan to help heal the BLACK community to totally secure the vote,' he tweeted back in June.